Author Topic: Free Trial Accounts on Lookstat - the floodgates have opened (Read 7605 times)

leaf · « **on:** October 28, 2009, 04:48 »

Lookstat has decided to allow trial accounts for anyone who is interested. Here is their press release

LookStat Announces Free Trial of its Back Office Services for Stock Photographers
Microstock keywording, retouching, uploading and analytics web platform provider to offer a
free 25-image trial of microstock keywording, uploading and submission services. LookStat will
keyword and upload 25 images for free for stock photographers who fill out a request form at
www.lookstat.com/backoffice/msg.html

Seattle, Washington, October 26, 2009 - LookStat (https://www.lookstat.com) announced
today that it is offering a free trial of its new microstock keywording and uploading services to
stock photographers who are active in microstock.

“We’re committed to creating technology and services to enable stock photographers to
streamline their workflow and to spend their time on what they do best – creating great
images,” said Rahul Pathak, LookStat’s CEO & Founder.

LookStat offers the following services:
• Keywording – IPTC-embedded title, description and 30-50 keywords that are SEO
friendly and microstock compliant.
• Retouching – All image post-processing including RAW conversion, color correction,
cleanup and logo removal.
• Uploading & Submission – Uploading and submission of images to up to 10 microstock
sites. This includes complete management of the submission process including upload
quotas, model release attachment and resubmission.
• Analytics – Automated image level sales tracking and analytics to allow photographers
to quickly spot trends and determine their ROI.

“I cannot say enough good things about LookStat and their services for photographers,” said
Jonathan Ross of Andersen Ross Studios. Pete Saloutos, an experienced stock photographer,
added, “I can't recommend LookStat’s services highly enough. LookStat took over uploading
and keywording responsibilities smoothly and efficiently, allowing me to focus on what I do
best: creating marketable microstock images.”

“We are confident that stock photographers will want to continue using LookStat after their 25
image trial because we provide a high-quality, cost-effective solution,” said Rahul.

To sign up for the free 25-image trial, stock photographers should fill out the offer form at:
www.lookstat.com/backoffice/msg.html

There is no obligation to continue after the initial trial.

gostwyck · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2009, 05:18 »

That's a generous offer but I really wish they'd provide proper details of how this service works and especially how much it would cost after the initial offer on their website.

Obviously different images are likely to have very different requirements in terms of the work/time involved but it should be possible to break it down and give some guidelines or price bands. At the very least they should be able to reference historic data of how much they have charged in the past.

What if the image is rejected? How you do work out who is to 'blame' when that occurs and therefore who bears the cost of any re-work or refund.

I've got a reasonable idea of how much my images earn and I don't want to waste their time or mine exploring an avenue which may turn out to be completely uneconomical for my type of work.

In my experience whenever a service provider is extremely cagey about how much their service costs then it usually turns out to be far more than it is worth.

Rahul Pathak · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2009, 12:23 »

Hi Gostwyck,

This is a great point and we have some work to do on the site in terms of diving in to how things work and pricing. In terms of how it works, it's relatively simple:

1. We activate SFTP for the photographer.
2. The photographer uploads images (either JPEGs or RAW/TIFF depending on whether retouching is needed or not)
3. We keyword the images and notify the photographer when this step is complete. Keywords can then be reviewed & edited online
4. Once the photographer approves, we upload & submit & attach model releases etc and we will manage all upload quotas
5. Pricing is on a per image basis w/ no minimums (ranges from $2-$10/image depending on which services are ordered). Customers are free to mix and match. E.g. no retouching or keywording, just uploading and submission.
6. Uploading for up to 10 sites is included and there are reduced rates for istock exclusives & partial sites.

Rejections due to keywording issues (or retouching issues) we handle at our cost. Our customers forward their rejections to us. We also handle resubmissions. If something is rejected due to focus, low commercial value etc, or for retouching that we didn't do, then that burden would fall on the photographer.

I'd be happy to email you a price sheet and to answer any other questions.

Rahul

gostwyck · « **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2009, 12:27 »

^^^ Thanks Rahul. That's exactly the information I was looking for and it seems very reasonable for the service being offered.

Rahul Pathak · « **Reply #4 on:** October 28, 2009, 12:28 »

Well let's get your trial started

- please use the MSG link above and I'd love a chance to show you what we can do and get your feedback.

PixelBitch · « **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2009, 15:28 »

All said and done these charges are pretty reasonable...have just spent the best part of 3 weeks keywording, retouching, uploading etc 350 images to 13 sites to see how MS works for us...and would gladly pay someone to do all that...but what about the returns in the present economy...is the present RPI enough to justify anything but doing it yourself?

I hope this works for Lookstat...it's a great idea...

Quote from: Rahul Pathak on October 28, 2009, 12:23

Hi Gostwyck,

This is a great point and we have some work to do on the site in terms of diving in to how things work and pricing. In terms of how it works, it's relatively simple:

1. We activate SFTP for the photographer.
2. The photographer uploads images (either JPEGs or RAW/TIFF depending on whether retouching is needed or not)
3. We keyword the images and notify the photographer when this step is complete. Keywords can then be reviewed & edited online
4. Once the photographer approves, we upload & submit & attach model releases etc and we will manage all upload quotas
5. Pricing is on a per image basis w/ no minimums (ranges from $2-$10/image depending on which services are ordered). Customers are free to mix and match. E.g. no retouching or keywording, just uploading and submission.
6. Uploading for up to 10 sites is included and there are reduced rates for istock exclusives & partial sites.

Rejections due to keywording issues (or retouching issues) we handle at our cost. Our customers forward their rejections to us. We also handle resubmissions. If something is rejected due to focus, low commercial value etc, or for retouching that we didn't do, then that burden would fall on the photographer.

I'd be happy to email you a price sheet and to answer any other questions.

Rahul

gostwyck · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2009, 16:12 »

Quote from: PixelBitch on October 28, 2009, 15:28

All said and done these charges are pretty reasonable...have just spent the best part of 3 weeks keywording, retouching, uploading etc 350 images to 13 sites to see how MS works for us...and would gladly pay someone to do all that...but what about the returns in the present economy...is the present RPI enough to justify anything but doing it yourself?

I hope this works for Lookstat...it's a great idea...

I guess it depends to a large degree on what you shoot. If you invest in high production cost shoots with correspondingly high sales potential then these costs are tiny in comparison to the overall outlay and the time saved might be more profitably used. If you're one of these 'photo factories' then it is probably cheaper and certainly more flexible than employing your own staff.